March 2024 Public Consultation Overload

This year has been a crazy one when it comes to catching up on all the cycling related public consultations happening in Toronto. For this update, there are six consultations to review and a seventh we need to demand for. These six are the Wallace Emerson Neighbourhood Streets Plan, the Peanut Streets Plan, Steeles Avenue Eat Complete Streets, Steeprock-Bathurst Manor Cycling Connections, Beltline Gap Connections, and the Centennial Park Cycling Connections. Let’s dive in to see what they are all about!

Wallace Emerson Neighbourhood Streets Plan

All images except for the last one at Danforth & Victoria Park are from the City of Toronto

While the public drop-in event already happened last night, you can still complete the survey by Monday, April 8. This project calls for cycle tracks on Hallam Street from the Bartlett Avenue contraflow to Dufferin Street, as well as contraflow bike lanes on Millicent Street (Dufferin Street to Emerson Avenue), Emerson Avenue (Dupont to Bloor Streets), Wallace Avenue (Emerson to Lansdowne Avenues), and St. Clarens Avenue (Wallace Avenue to Dupont Street). Some directional changes are proposed for St. Clarens, Wallace, and Emerson Avenues, while Croatia Street will be closed off from Brock Avenue to Collegiate Road. Some traffic calming measures such as speed humps and speed bumps are also featured in this project. Lansdowne Avenue and Dupont Street are candidates for the 2025-27 Bike Plan which would help enhance this plan further.

Peanut Streets Plan

If you live near Fairview Mall and Don Mills subway station, this public consultation is for you which will be on Wednesday, March 27 (6 – 8 PM) at Georges Vanier Secondary School (3000 Don Mills Road East). This is the first phase of the neighbourhood streets plan to collect feedback on road safety improvements in the area bounded by Van Horne Drive, Highway 404, Fairview Mall Drive and Esterbrooke Avenue, and Bellbury and Lescon Parks. You can also use the interactive map to submit your own feedback by Wednesday, April 10. A follow-up consultation will be held later on to propose short-term and long-term solutions. Personally, I’m not too familiar with the area, but remembered biking on Van Horne in Summer 2020 with Toronto East Cyclists which crosses Highway 404 without an interchange. I would support a bike lane on that street, while that part of Don Mills is currently a candidate for the 2025-27 plan.

Steeles Avenue East Complete Streets

In May 2024, the City of Toronto will start reconstruction of Steeles Avenue from Midland Avenue to McCowan Road which will include raised cycle tracks throughout. Existing bike lanes were installed from McCowan to Markham Roads before 2001, while Metrolinx reconstructed the stretch from Midland Avenue to Kennedy Road in 2022 with raised cycle track as part of the Stouffville line grade separation project. A public meeting will be held on Thursday, March 28 (6 – 8 PM) at Prince of Peace Catholic School (255 Alton Towers Circle) for residents to learn more. Phase 1 from Midland to Brimley Road is expected to be done this year with Phase 2 to McCowan Road planned for 2025. Another stretch of Steeles from Tapscott Road to Donald Cousens Parkway is expected to start construction in 2026 and it’s likely more parts of Steeles will get the complete street treatment in the years ahead. A corridor to watch for sure.

Steeprock – Bathurst Manor Cycling Connections

Building on the recently installed Chesswood cycle tracks and those recently approved on Champagne Drive and Alness Streets, the City is planning to put in cycle tracks on Steeprock Drive from Chesswood to Dufferin Street. Bike lanes are also planned on Whitehorse and Rimrock Roads from Steeprock to Dufferin. However, I am disappointed that the City is only considering sharrows between Dufferin and Bathurst Streets to connect with the existing Wilmington Avenue bike lane and a planned complete street on Bathurst; the consultation for which will happen later this spring. While no public meeting is scheduled for the Steeprock – Bathurst Manor project, you can submit your comments to Katelynn.Northam@toronto.ca by Monday, April 15. The area may be residential, but we need to at least demand bike lanes on Overbrook Place and Maxwell Street to connect with a trail leading to the Prosserman Jewish Community Centre. Two more asks I would make for this neighbourhood streets plan is to put in a multi-use trail on Finch between Wilmington and Dufferin to complete a gap in the Finch Hydro Corridor, as well as provide a safe cycling connection to Sheppard West subway station using either Sheppard or Dufferin-Allen.

Beltline Gap Connections

If there’s one project that makes you want to say, “it’s about time”, the Beltline Gap Connections would be it! The long-standing gap between the York Beltline and Kay Gardner Beltline Trails will be filled by converting the south sidewalk on Roselawn Avenue and Elm Ridge Drive into a multi-use path, while the Allen Greenway sidewalk from Elm Ridge Drive to Wembley Road would be widened into a multi-use path. This project will also fill another gap by installing a bi-directional cycle track on the west side of Marlee Avenue from Roselawn to Eglinton Avenue (which leads to the existing Winona contraflow). To further build on this project, there is a need to extend the Allen Greenway to Eglinton, while a short stretch of Eglinton between Marlee and Winona would need to be converted into a bi-directional cycle track. You can e-mail your comments to carol.lee2@toronto.ca by Friday, April 19.

Centennial Park Cycling Connections

For Etobicoke residents, there is a public drop-in event happening on Tuesday, April 9 (6:30 – 8:30 PM) at Silverthorn Collegiate about the Centennial Park Cycling Connections. This project will extend the existing Burnamthorpe multi-use trail in Mississauga on the north side of the street to Mill Road, while Mill Road will get a bi-directional cycle track from Burnamthorpe to Rathburn Roads. Multi-use trails on Rathburn and Centennial Park Boulevard are expected to be completed this year which would complete the connection to the Eglinton multi-use path. A southern extension to Bloor Street needs to be considered as soon as possible which will help further build the case to extend the Bloor bike lanes from Six Points to Mississauga despite the opposition happening there. At this time, the presentation slides and survey link are unavailable, but the deadline for feedback is Tuesday, April 23.

What About Danforth-Kingston?

Despite all these consultations, one project which is long overdue for one is the Danforth-Kingston Complete Street Extension which was delayed in part to last year’s by-elections for Mayor in June and for Councillor in Ward 20 Scarborough Southwest in November. Danforth-Kingston 4 All has a tool you can use to e-mail Mayor Chow and Scarborough councillors to host a public consultation as soon as possible. And please sign and share the petition if you haven’t already.